United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ____________ United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

FILED No. 23-60216 August 30, 2024 ____________ Lyle W. Cayce John M. Barr; John McPherson, Clerk

Petitioners,

versus Securities and Exchange Commission,

Respondent. ______________________________

Petition of Review of an Order from the Securities and Exchange Commission Agency No. 2023-42 ______________________________ Before Smith, Engelhardt, and Ramirez, Circuit Judges. Irma Carrillo Ramirez, Circuit Judge: Two whistleblowers challenge the Securities and Exchange Commission’s calculation of award amounts under the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The petitions for review are DENIED. I A This case concerns the extensive securities fraud perpetrated from 1999 to 2013 by Life Partners Holdings, Inc. (Life Partners). See SEC v. Life Case: 23-60216 Document: 140-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/30/2024

No. 23-60216

Partners Holdings, Inc., 854 F.3d 765, 773 (5th Cir. 2017). Because this Court has previously considered the details of the fraudulent scheme, see, e.g., id. at 772–74; Jacobs v. Cowley (In re Life Partners Holdings, Inc.), 926 F.3d 103, 112– 14 (5th Cir. 2019), only immediately relevant facts are recounted here. In 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) “filed a civil action in federal district court charging [Life Partners] and three of its officers with violations of the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws.” In late 2014, following a jury trial, the district court entered final judgment against Life Partners, in which it was ordered to pay $38.7 million in disgorgement and civil penalties. See SEC v. Life Partners Holdings, Inc., 71 F. Supp. 3d 615, 626 (W.D. Tex. 2014). Before the district court entered final judgment on January 16, 2015, the SEC filed an emergency motion to appoint a receiver “to maintain the status quo, prevent further dissipation of assets from [Life Partners], and protect [Life Partners’s] investors and creditors.” Four days after entry of final judgment, Life Partners filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The district court had not yet ruled on the SEC’s motion to appoint a receiver when Life Partners filed for bankruptcy, and Life Partners openly admitted that it filed for bankruptcy “to ‘avoid the appointment’” of a receiver. On February 5, 2015, the district court denied without prejudice the motion to appoint a receiver, finding, “[b]ased on [its] review of the motions and pleadings filed in [the bankruptcy] court,” that “the SEC will be able to effectively seek from the [b]ankruptcy [c]ourt the relief sought . . . in the receivership motion.” In its capacity as an unsecured judgment creditor, the SEC filed a motion requesting that the bankruptcy court appoint a Chapter 11 trustee. The U.S. Trustee filed a similar motion. The bankruptcy court granted the SEC’s motion, finding that Life Partners’s gross mismanagement

2 Case: 23-60216 Document: 140-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 08/30/2024